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4.22.2009

How can jaywalking in downtown Fort Worth last weekend turn into assault on a police officer by a "top SEC attorney". Trust me, that case is going no where. It's nothing but a cluster.

My grass doesn't seem to be growing very fast.That's OK.

I've got a pesky ant problem in my house that is driving me crazy. Every now and then, a tiny little one will show up on the counter. I've nuked the place but I'll still see one from time to time.

Whatever happened to Alicia Silverstone?

Posey Parker is a cool name. Edit: Ok, my wheels were off.

I heard a theory yesterday that Susan Boyle (the homely British woman with the great voice) was all a set up. Tapes of her singing from as far back as 10 years ago have surfaced, and there is no question that the producers and directors of the show knew she could sing before they brought her on stage. So did they simply "frump up" an accomplished singer and then pretend to be shocked once she began to sing?

Last night felt like summer.

It seems like if there is a kidnapping or any other sort of high profile crime in the metroplex, there a closed circuit camera that captured a screen shot of the evildoer.

News just coming across the wire: "David Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead at his home Wednesday morning in what police said was an apparent suicide."

The title to the TV show "M*A*S*H" was "Suicide Is Painless." Edit: You know what I meant.

One of my favorite blogs, which is run by D Magazine, has shut down comments because they "became increasingly intemperate, irrelevant, and illiterate." Uh, that's what makes them good.

Crazy sentence in a story about Dallas ISD graduation rates: "The report charts Dallas ISD's graduation rate rising from 38.1 percent in 1995 to 50.8 percent in 2005 – the seventh-highest gain of the big-city districts." Woah. It has risen to 50%?

I also enjoy FrontBurner & Unfair Park daily. Hate to see the comments go away on FB. Half the info & humor flowed from the contributing commenters. Loved Rawlins Gilliland of NPR fame when he weighed in on a topic. Crazies & one-issue zealots are everywhere (including here). You just have to learn to sift through the noise.

The title of the THEME MUSIC for the TV show "M*A*S*H*" is "Suicide is Painless"

Cameras are everywhere nowadays, static and handheld. If you're doing something wrong there's a good chance you'll be filmed doing it

Top photo: nice face, nice hair, nice junk in the trunkBottom photo: man face, bikini top straining to hold up saggers, feet so ridiculously large she probably has to wear clown shoes. Her only redeeming quality is a nice pair of drumsticks

Susan Boyle - I believe she's Scottish and yes if one wanted to be crude they could say something about a "Boil" but I refuse.

Freddie Mac - Call this profiling and a far stretch but why would a guy like Kellerman kill himself? This guy had the "life of Riley" and "offs" himself? He doesn't look like the type to do that sort of thing. Makes you wonder what he knew or what type of life he really had. According to Barney Frank everything at Freddie Mac was on the "up-n-up" including his boyfriend, no pun intended Barnie.

There is a 50% dropout rate in the U.S. and 40% of all babies born in the U.S. are born out of wedlock. 50% of people who pay taxes make less than $33,000. and pay less than 3% of all federal income taxes collected. WOW! Imagine that! There is the same percentage of poor as there are dropouts. Not a big surprise the majority of those poor are Black and Hispanic since those groups have the highest dropout rates and out of wedlock teen pregnancy rates.

It needs to be MORE uncomfortable for people to make poor personal choices and have children they cannot afford because they have not graduated high school and then PERHAPS they would make responsible personal choices and do what it takes to be a productive member of society rather than a BURDEN.

I am all for people getting to make personal choices as long as I do not have to pay for the consequences of their choices.

Yesterday I got attacked (and complemented) for my method of drying clothes. I will try again today with a little science on your ant problems. The ants are on you counters looking for something to eat, either grease, sugar or protein. Put a small amount of these three on the counter (grease, meat, syrup) and see what they come after. Then buy the appropriate product to get rid of them. If you try to feed them what they are not looking for, your attack will fail. If they are coming for sugar then a speck of boric acid in a drop of honey or syrup will do the trick.

Fireants are a major pest in Wise County. The most popular products contain a formulation that attracts protein-seeking ants. The problem with this is that fireants are not always seeking protein. If they are not feeding on protein, then Amdro broadcast on yards will be ignored and your money and labor wasted. I test by locating a mound and putting out a small piece of lunchmeat to see if they want protein. If they jump on it then it time for the baits formulated for that cycle in the ants lives. Homemade pet/bird proof bait stations containing a tablespoon of Amdro fireant bait (be sure it is BAIT) placed every 20feet around the foundation of your home will eliminate fireants when/if the ants are attracted to protein. Small section of cheap ½ or ¾ inch pvc pipe with one end capped make excellent weather proof bait stations.

I have actually seen fireants carry off and dispose of Amdro placed on and near their mound.

I was also at the art festival on Friday and they had some of the rudest people directing traffic and pedestrians. The only good thing to say about them was that treated all people like crap and were not picking on any certain group.

OK. I can't stand it any longer. This bugs me every time I open your blog. Barry, a "brain child" is something that is the PRODUCT of your brain ... like, for example, this blog is your brainchild. And a good one it is.

But YOU, yourself, are not a "brainchild". You weren't "thought up" by somebody else. (Unless you want to get into a really existential argument, here.)

So, to say, "The Brainchild:" and then to set out your profile, is just ... well... wrong.

And if you really knew all that and were just trying to be cute, well then, .... never mind.

9:16 gave us Mr. Green some valuable information which is more than most of give when we comment.

A quick comment on our High School Graduation rates in the USA. 25% of our kids are not graduating from High School. Much of this is blamed on the standardized testing now in the form of TAKS tests. There are some kids who can't pass portions of the TAKs test even though they have passed and completed the same subjects in High School. These kids are "Getting Left Behind" by the NO Child Left Behind Federal Mandate." You will find few teachers or educators who think these TAKs tests are a good thing. Maybe we should let our States and local school boards run our school systems rather than Washington.

9:38, unlike you and Al Gore, I do not rely on CNN, ABC, and CBS for my science. I do not rely on a clerk in the garden section of Lowes to sell me a fireant bait product that works. Yes, I do have a lot of time on my hands. However, the time I spent in discussing ants is less time than you would spend in driving to Lowes to get a bag of fireant bait and broadcasting it in your yard, only to find out that the critters are not interested in it.

To anonymous 9:16...You must be knew to Barry's Blog. You need to reconcile yourself to the fact that you will be attacked for thinking for yourself or having higher standards than the commenters who do nothing more than take pot shots at people who offer thoughtful comments. The rancor displayed in the hateful comments is what Barry lives for which is one reason he posts the mean spirited attack comments.

To anonymous 11:23...The past few days I have been multi-tasking, poorly. Chatting on the phone, watching CNBC, doing hydrocodon while leaving comments on Barry's Blog makes for grammar/spelling/vocabulary errors. The weirdest thing about hydrocodon is that it makes it possible to feel my hair growing all the while numbing my teeth. They are not kidding when they say you should not drive or operate heavy equipment while doing this stuff. I am not certain I have any business operating the microwave these days.

This past weekend I was helping an elderly friend pack her belongings and wrenched my back when I attempted to lift a box of books. I should be off the dope in a week or so.

Have we become so specialized in our society that people don't know how to get rid of mice? It is called a mouse trap, the device that holds the record for the number of patents issued. Three for $1.00 at Walmart. Put peanut butter on the trigger mechanism. Sorry for the sarcasm.

To anonymous 1:03...*OTFLOLHysterically*You are the best, ever, Grammar/Spelling Nazi.*StillLOL*I refuse to say anything about the usage of "kinda" and "like" and will keep silent about the sentence fragment beginning with the conjunction "then." *;)

Barry, and yes, at your personal request I dropped the Mr. part. If you will place moth balls around your home, A/C, and electric box outdoors, you will get rid of your ant and mouse problems. Remember to replace them about every 3-4 weeks.